ADR Knowledge Base

Quick reference for Action-Domain-Responder pattern and PHP implementation guidelines.

Core Principles

ADR Components

HTTP Request → Action (collects input)
                 ↓
              Domain (executes business logic)
                 ↓
             Responder (builds HTTP Response)
                 ↓
           HTTP Response

Rule: One action = one HTTP endpoint. Responder builds the COMPLETE response.

Component Responsibilities

Component	Responsibility	Contains
Action	Collects input, invokes Domain, passes to Responder	Request parsing, DTO creation, UseCase invocation
Domain	Business logic (same as DDD Domain/Application)	Entities, Value Objects, UseCases, Services
Responder	Builds HTTP Response (status, headers, body)	Response building, template rendering, content negotiation

ADR vs MVC Comparison

Aspect	MVC Controller	ADR Action
Granularity	Multiple actions	Single action per class
Response building	Mixed in controller	Separate Responder class
HTTP concerns	Scattered	Isolated in Responder
Testability	Lower (many concerns)	Higher (single responsibility)
File structure	Few large files	Many focused files

Quick Checklists

Action Checklist

• Single __invoke() method
• No new Response() or response building
• No business logic (if/switch on domain state)
• Only input parsing and domain invocation
• Returns Responder result

Responder Checklist

• Receives domain result only
• Builds complete HTTP Response
• Handles content negotiation
• Sets status codes based on result
• No domain/business logic
• No database/repository access

Domain Checklist

• Same as DDD Domain/Application layers
• No HTTP/Response concerns
• Returns domain objects (not HTTP responses)
• Pure business logic

Common Violations Quick Reference

Violation	Where to Look	Severity
new Response() in Action	*Action.php	Critical
->withStatus() in Action	*Action.php	Critical
if ($result->isError()) in Action	*Action.php	Warning
$repository-> in Responder	*Responder.php	Critical
$service-> in Responder	*Responder.php	Critical
Multiple public methods in Action	*Action.php	Warning
Template logic in Action	*Action.php	Warning

PHP 8.5 ADR Patterns

Action Pattern

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Presentation\Api\User\Create;

use Application\User\UseCase\CreateUser\CreateUserUseCase;
use Application\User\UseCase\CreateUser\CreateUserInput;
use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface;

final readonly class CreateUserAction
{
    public function __construct(
        private CreateUserUseCase $useCase,
        private CreateUserResponder $responder,
    ) {
    }

    public function __invoke(ServerRequestInterface $request): ResponseInterface
    {
        $input = $this->parseInput($request);
        $result = $this->useCase->execute($input);

        return $this->responder->respond($result);
    }

    private function parseInput(ServerRequestInterface $request): CreateUserInput
    {
        $body = (array) $request->getParsedBody();

        return new CreateUserInput(
            email: $body['email'] ?? '',
            name: $body['name'] ?? '',
        );
    }
}

Responder Pattern

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Presentation\Api\User\Create;

use Application\User\UseCase\CreateUser\CreateUserResult;
use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseFactoryInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface;
use Psr\Http\Message\StreamFactoryInterface;

final readonly class CreateUserResponder
{
    public function __construct(
        private ResponseFactoryInterface $responseFactory,
        private StreamFactoryInterface $streamFactory,
    ) {
    }

    public function respond(CreateUserResult $result): ResponseInterface
    {
        if ($result->isFailure()) {
            return $this->error($result->error());
        }

        return $this->success($result->userId());
    }

    private function success(string $userId): ResponseInterface
    {
        return $this->json(['id' => $userId], 201);
    }

    private function error(string $message): ResponseInterface
    {
        return $this->json(['error' => $message], 400);
    }

    private function json(array $data, int $status): ResponseInterface
    {
        $body = $this->streamFactory->createStream(
            json_encode($data, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR)
        );

        return $this->responseFactory->createResponse($status)
            ->withHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json')
            ->withBody($body);
    }
}

Detection Patterns

Action Detection

# Find Action classes
Glob: **/*Action.php
Glob: **/Action/**/*.php
Grep: "implements.*ActionInterface|extends.*Action" --glob "**/*.php"

# Detect Action pattern usage
Grep: "public function __invoke.*Request" --glob "**/*Action.php"

Responder Detection

# Find Responder classes
Glob: **/*Responder.php
Glob: **/Responder/**/*.php
Grep: "implements.*ResponderInterface" --glob "**/*.php"

# Detect Responder pattern usage
Grep: "public function respond" --glob "**/*Responder.php"

Violation Detection

# Response building in Action (Critical)
Grep: "new Response|->withStatus|->withHeader|->withBody" --glob "**/*Action.php"

# Business logic in Action (Warning)
Grep: "if \(.*->status|switch \(|->isValid\(\)" --glob "**/*Action.php"

# Domain calls in Responder (Critical)
Grep: "Repository|Service|UseCase" --glob "**/*Responder.php"

# Multiple public methods in Action (Warning)
Grep: "public function [^_]" --glob "**/*Action.php" | wc -l

File Structure

Recommended Structure

src/
├── Presentation/
│   ├── Api/
│   │   └── {Context}/
│   │       └── {Action}/
│   │           ├── {Action}Action.php
│   │           ├── {Action}Responder.php
│   │           └── {Action}Request.php (optional DTO)
│   ├── Web/
│   │   └── {Context}/
│   │       └── {Action}/
│   │           ├── {Action}Action.php
│   │           ├── {Action}Responder.php
│   │           └── templates/ (for HTML)
│   └── Shared/
│       ├── Action/
│       │   └── ActionInterface.php
│       └── Responder/
│           └── ResponderInterface.php
├── Application/
│   └── {Context}/
│       └── UseCase/
│           └── {Action}/
│               ├── {Action}UseCase.php
│               ├── {Action}Input.php
│               └── {Action}Result.php
└── Domain/
    └── ...

Alternative Structure (Feature-Based)

src/
├── User/
│   ├── Presentation/
│   │   ├── CreateUser/
│   │   │   ├── CreateUserAction.php
│   │   │   └── CreateUserResponder.php
│   │   └── GetUser/
│   │       ├── GetUserAction.php
│   │       └── GetUserResponder.php
│   ├── Application/
│   │   └── ...
│   └── Domain/
│       └── ...

Integration with DDD

ADR fits naturally with DDD layering:

ADR	DDD Layer	Notes
Action	Presentation	Entry point for HTTP
Responder	Presentation	Exit point for HTTP
Domain	Domain + Application	Business logic via UseCases

PSR Integration

ADR works with PSR-7/PSR-15:

PSR	Usage
PSR-7	Request/Response interfaces
PSR-15	Middleware for cross-cutting concerns
PSR-17	Response/Stream factories in Responder

Antipatterns

1. Fat Action (Critical)

// BAD: Action doing too much
class CreateUserAction
{
    public function __invoke(Request $request): Response
    {
        $data = $request->getParsedBody();

        // Validation in Action
        if (empty($data['email'])) {
            return new Response(400, [], 'Email required');
        }

        // Business logic in Action
        $user = new User($data['email']);
        $this->repository->save($user);

        // Response building in Action
        return new Response(201, [], json_encode(['id' => $user->id()]));
    }
}

2. Anemic Responder (Warning)

// BAD: Responder not doing its job
class CreateUserResponder
{
    public function respond($data): Response
    {
        return new Response(200, [], json_encode($data));
    }
}

3. Smart Responder (Critical)

// BAD: Responder with business logic
class CreateUserResponder
{
    public function respond(User $user): Response
    {
        // Domain logic in Responder!
        if ($user->isAdmin()) {
            $this->notificationService->notifyAdmins();
        }

        return $this->json(['id' => $user->id()], 201);
    }
}

References

For detailed information, load these reference files:

• references/action-patterns.md — Action class patterns and best practices
• references/responder-patterns.md — Responder class patterns
• references/domain-integration.md — Integration with DDD Domain layer
• references/mvc-comparison.md — Detailed MVC vs ADR comparison
• references/antipatterns.md — Common ADR violations with examples

Assets

• assets/report-template.md — ADR audit report template